Officers will gather Friday at the old District 3 headquarters alongside Nicholas Handorf to honor his fallen brother – their fallen brother. It's a rain or shine memorial that's been happening for decades.

"I will never cancel," Nicholas Handorf wrote in a note reminding people of the 1 p.m. event.

Saturday marks 44 years since Sgt. Charles Handorf was gunned down outside a Sayler Park house. Handorf was 46 and had served in the Cincinnati Police Department for 22 years.

Nicholas Handorf was in his late 20s when his brother was killed. He is now 72.

It was neighbors who called police to Home City Avenue around 11 p.m. that Sunday night. They said gunfire was coming from Herbert Merz's house.

Merz met an officer at the door with the gun, then barricaded himself inside his home.

Sgt. Handorf was doing paperwork and hoping to leave early when a call came in for assistance. He didn't have to go to the scene, but he did.

After trying to negotiate with Merz using a bullhorn, police attempted to fire tear gas into the home. At that point, Merz opened fire from a second-story window.

Handorf was crouching behind a wall with other officers and when he raised his head over the wall briefly was struck in the eye with a bullet from Merz's .38 caliber revolver.

He died instantly. The other officers returned fire with their own revolvers and shotguns. They fired 27 rounds and killed Merz.

Twelve days earlier, Merz had been arrested for threatening to kill an officer. He had a series of employment, marriage and possibly health problems.

Merz had been fired from the Cincinnati Fire Department and had been working as a painter. Neighbors said he was staggering into his home Friday and may have been kicked out of a local bar. Others said he may have also been suffering from a brain tumor.

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Sgt. Handorf had worked as a plainclothes investigator, a detective and in the vice squad before he was assigned to District 3, which covers the West Side of Cincinnati.

"He was an unusual man, a great leader, respected by all those with who he associated,” Col. Henry Sandman said at the time. “He went far beyond the normal call of duty, spending off-duty hours at his job. He was a completely dedicated police officer.”

In 1957, Handorf nearly died in another shooting. While meeting with a possible informant, his own gun was grabbed and used against him. He was shot in the stomach and endured six hours of surgery.

Saturday also marks the 43rd anniversary of the death of Sgt. Robert Lally. During a spate of robberies, Lally was checking the rear door of a business in Mount Airy when the owner emerged a shot him mistaking him for a burglar.